4 ms·

> It is telling though that Constine notes that one of Uber’s Smart Routes runs “up Fillmore St. from Haight St. to Bay St. in the Marina, which the Bay Area’s

by hiou 11y ago

> It is telling though that Constine notes that one of Uber’s Smart Routes runs “up Fillmore St. from Haight St. to Bay St. in the Marina, which the Bay Area’s BART service doesn’t cover,” when the route is directly covered by the SF MUNI 22 bus, which runs every eight minutes according to Google Maps again: > every eight minutes and only costs $2.25 If only we could remove the stigma an bigotry associated with riding the bus, so many issues with public transit would be cured.

umanwizard 11y ago
I think this stigma and bigotry is an SF Bay Area thing. Or at any rate, I have never seen it here in Seattle. Plenty of well-off Amazon employees on the bus every morning. I wonder if it has to do with the Bay Area being so spread out and car-centric, that only quite lower-class people don't have cars. Just a hypothesis from an outsider.
- PaulHoule 11y ago
  This stigma is why General Motors invented the school bus. Whatever you are driven around in as a kid you will hate when you grow up. The bad smells, bullying, getting puked on and feeling of being an effect rather than a cause that you get from riding the school bus will translate to you hating busses as an adult and wanting to get your own private car just as soon as you can. Nobody ever talks about Generation X, but one thing about us is that we grew up in minivans so that the thought of driving a minivan is like putting your hand in a toilet.
- hiou 11y ago
  Seattle is a fantastic counterpoint. Of all the cities I've seen, Seattle has managed to have excellent service and ridership using a primarily bus oriented public transit system. It's a great example of how the stigma of buses is one of the largest obstacles public transit in the US needs to overcome.
habosa 11y ago
I don't think people are taking Uber over the MUNI because of "stigma" or "bigotry". For sure there are some Uber users who are too good for public transportation, but I don't think that's a majority. The real reason not to take the MUNI is speed. The MUNI is really, really slow. First of all it's a bus in SF traffics so it's a natural disadvantage except where it has a preferred lane. Second, the MUNI stops way too frequently, which adds many minutes to travel time. Sometimes it stops at every block [0]. So a ride on the MUNI that would be about 40m will be 20m in an Uber because the Uber will stop only 1-2 times depending on how many people you're sharing the ride with. So the MUNI is $2.25 and the Uber will be about $6 (in my experience). If you add in the convenience of hailing the Uber with your phone and getting to track it with GPS, you can see why people with extra money would use this. However you should not take this as an endorsement, it's simply an explanation. I find it pathetic that the best SF can offer me to get from the north part of the city to downtown is a 45 minute jam-packed bus ride. It's only 3 miles! I'd love to see public transportation get more effective. Until then, I'll pretty much always ride my bike or take a Lyft Line. 0 - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/us/san-francisco-buses-are-slow-but-just-try-eliminating-a-stop.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/us/san-francisco-buses-are...
allengeorge 11y ago
This is very noticeable in the Bay Area, but not an issue in either Toronto or NYC. For example - in Toronto - while most people would generally prefer the subway or streetcar there's no stigma against buses (well - unless you consider the Vomit Comet).

by hiou 11y ago

umanwizard 11y ago

I think this stigma and bigotry is an SF Bay Area thing. Or at any rate, I have never seen it here in Seattle. Plenty of well-off Amazon employees on the bus every morning. I wonder if it has to do with the Bay Area being so spread out and car-centric, that only quite lower-class people don't have cars. Just a hypothesis from an outsider.

PaulHoule 11y ago
This stigma is why General Motors invented the school bus. Whatever you are driven around in as a kid you will hate when you grow up. The bad smells, bullying, getting puked on and feeling of being an effect rather than a cause that you get from riding the school bus will translate to you hating busses as an adult and wanting to get your own private car just as soon as you can. Nobody ever talks about Generation X, but one thing about us is that we grew up in minivans so that the thought of driving a minivan is like putting your hand in a toilet.
hiou 11y ago
Seattle is a fantastic counterpoint. Of all the cities I've seen, Seattle has managed to have excellent service and ridership using a primarily bus oriented public transit system. It's a great example of how the stigma of buses is one of the largest obstacles public transit in the US needs to overcome.

habosa 11y ago

I don't think people are taking Uber over the MUNI because of "stigma" or "bigotry". For sure there are some Uber users who are too good for public transportation, but I don't think that's a majority. The real reason not to take the MUNI is speed. The MUNI is really, really slow. First of all it's a bus in SF traffics so it's a natural disadvantage except where it has a preferred lane. Second, the MUNI stops way too frequently, which adds many minutes to travel time. Sometimes it stops at every block [0]. So a ride on the MUNI that would be about 40m will be 20m in an Uber because the Uber will stop only 1-2 times depending on how many people you're sharing the ride with. So the MUNI is $2.25 and the Uber will be about $6 (in my experience). If you add in the convenience of hailing the Uber with your phone and getting to track it with GPS, you can see why people with extra money would use this. However you should not take this as an endorsement, it's simply an explanation. I find it pathetic that the best SF can offer me to get from the north part of the city to downtown is a 45 minute jam-packed bus ride. It's only 3 miles! I'd love to see public transportation get more effective. Until then, I'll pretty much always ride my bike or take a Lyft Line. 0 - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/us/san-francisco-buses-are-slow-but-just-try-eliminating-a-stop.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/us/san-francisco-buses-are...

allengeorge 11y ago

This is very noticeable in the Bay Area, but not an issue in either Toronto or NYC. For example - in Toronto - while most people would generally prefer the subway or streetcar there's no stigma against buses (well - unless you consider the Vomit Comet).